We’ve been so busy that this blog has been neglected a bit, but we’ll try our best to keep it up to date anyway 😉

At St. Mary’s they recently introduced to have chickens to give the children some insight in where eggs come from and how they are brought up. A few weeks ago now Luke’s room got some fertilized eggs with a breeder and a couple of weeks ago the little chicks hatched – which was a spectacle for the kids.
Now since the little chicks need to be looked after over the Easter weekend as well as during the upcoming school holidays, we decided to look after them for the next 4 weeks and added another 200% to our existing bird population in our little castle 🙂

Now the first night, Claudia was very motivated and as we did not have any traditional lamps she needed to heat up a ‘heat cushion’ every few hours. Well done Claudia. However after that we decided to buy a non-LED lamp and since are using that over night to provide the necessary heat to the chicks.

Here is a video from the kids having them out (btw Hansa & Rostock are pretty envious at the moment for the kids attention ;)).

today we went to Bethells Beach – or more accurately to Lake Wainamu to do some sprint training with Niclas, Dune surfing for the kids and also a little bit of a hike from Vicki and Papa.
This was followed by a nice dinner at Stuart’s and Andrea’s new Farm where the kids played with the new pets (a dog and a kitten).

The first day,

We had to get up very early in the morning and then we went to the airport where we had an awesome breakfast in the lounge. Then we went on a plane for a three hour ride to gold cost for a futsal holiday. Then we arrived at the airport and got a car. Then we went to our flashy hotel but couldent check in yet so we went to Niclas’es lodge but his team was hours late. So we went to the beach and later droped Niclas off at the lodge.

The second day,

We woke up, and we had breakfast and then we went for a long walk in thevSpringbrook national park and we found eight lizard Papa found six lizard and I found two lizard. After that we went back to the hotel for a little nap then once we woke up we went for a swim at the beach. After that we went back to the hotel and went to bed.

The third day,

Today were Niclas’es first games he had three. The first one was early in the morning but the team didn’t show up. After that we went to the beach for a couple of hours while Niclas stayed in the staidium. He won his secound game 9:3 and finished the last game of the day with a win.

The fourth day,

We woke up and had breakfast and then walked over to Niclas’es lodge who was playing cards with his team at that time after we viseted. Then he played his game againts last years winners they drew 3 all. After the game me and dad went swimming in the pool and then to bed.

The fifth day,

We woke up, and I had yummy breakfast and then we went to Niclas first game which was 7 :1. After we went to a big big big shopping mall and ate a yummy burger. Then we went to broad beach to have awesome fun jumping over the big big big waves. Then we went to Niclas’s 2nd game that day and it was 12:4 to the Auckland. After that East City Auckland played the quarter finals against sunshine coast and they lost 5:1 and with that were eliminated from the tournament (mostly due to the fact that the team could not capitalize on their chances as well as the biased referees). Then we went to the hotel and watched some TV and we went to bed.

The sixth day,

Today Niclas had no more games so we also had nothing to do so in the evening we picked Niclas up from the stadium ( he was supporting another team) and went to the beach to swim. After that we went to church for an hour and then we ate dinner at the best burger place in the area.

The 7th day,

As normal we woke up and ate breakfast then packed our stuff. We went for one last dip in the pool before we head back. Then we picked up Nic’s team and drove to a mall near the airport there we went shopping one last time. Then we dropped off da boys and our car. After that we went to the lounge and had dinner. Then we got on the plane and flew back home.

On the 1st of January 2017 we then picked up Marcus’ Mum and brother Tobias from the airport and the big holiday started where we had an awesome time with Onkel Tobias and the ‘grosse Oma Koenig’. We haven’t somehow been able to do a blog post about it as there were so many great things and pictures and videos – maybe Max will have some time to finish it off this school holidays and we’ll add it in 🙂

After Tobias and Oma went back to Germany, Niclas, Milorad and Marcus took the task to climb Mt. Taranaki over Waitangi day:

The follow-on time was again very very busy – with Niclas playing the pre season 15th grade tournament (one grade up) and then the start of the actual season with some injuries that set him back.
The following school holidays we did some nice trips out west and to Rangitoto:

Then lot’s and lot’s of business – where Marcus had to start preparing the launch of his new business with his friend Alexis (Systemethix) and a number of trips to Australia as well as the peak of the season for the kids – with Niclas’s team finishing 3rd and securing promotion to the top league as well as Max’s team finishing 2nd in the league.

At the end of the season Niclas was again invited by the 15th grade team to play in Taupo with them, where the team did very well and almost won their competition:

yesterday was full of School assembly’s. Starting of with the Middle school price giving at Marcelin College where the boys missed out on any of the numerous awards. Followed by St. Mary’s end of school year assembly where Luke won the Special Character Award & Cecilia got the Excellence in Learning Award.